Apparatus for treating strands



March 26, 1940. s. 'rHRoNsEN 2,195,102

APPARATUS FOR TREATING STRANDS Filed NOV. 28, 1936 ri-2%@ l A Tra/#Niv Patented Mar. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES PATE-NT OFFICE APPARATUS Fon TREATING s'rnANns Application November 28, 1936, Serial No. 113,160

2 Claims. (Cl. 80-3) This invention relates to apparatus for treating strands and more particularly to apparatus for converting metalstrands of rounded, circular or oval cross-section into strands of angularly Z-shaped cross-section.

In the manufacture of some types of coaxial conductor units for use in the communications arts, such a unit comprises a central or axial strand of conductive material contained within a. second conductive member in the form of `a hollow cylinder or tube coaxial therewith, together with insulating means to keep the two in mutually coaxial relation. In some instances the outer conductor is made up of a plurality of mutually overlapping tapes or strips of metal wound spirallyl together over the insulating spacing means and each having a substantially sharply angularly Z-shaped cross-section so that the several tapes combine in a quasi ship-lap manner to form a hollow cylinder smooth both within and without. It is highly desirable in such a case that the angular cross-section of each tape be completely lled out, i. e. that none of the edges be rounded, so that the cylinder formed by combining several tapes will have n0 grooves where the tapes match together.

An -object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for converting strands of circular or oval cross-section into strands of angular cross-section in which all angles of every cross-section are eachcompletely filled out by the material of the strand to the vertex of the angle.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates an apparatus for treating strands which includes means forv forming a strand having a predetermined sharply angular cross-section plus one or more longitudinal n rooted substantially only along the vertices of one or more ofthe convex dihedral angles of the strand and containing excess material, and then accurately shearingr away the fin to leave the nished strand with the desired cross-section.

Other objects and features of the invention will `clearly appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof in anapparatus for treating strands, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

- Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; i

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the showing of Fig. 5;

and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 'l-T of Fig. 1. 10

In the invention as herein disclosed a strand 2|), preferably originally having the oval crosssection shown in Fig. 2 although the cross-section may also be circular, is drawn at the left in Fig. 1 from any suitable supplyfthereof not l5 shown; is converted rst into a form having the flat and sharply rectangularly Z-shaped cross-section with the projecting longitudinal fins 25, |25, 225 and 325 or any one ortwo or three of them shown in Fig. 3; is then converted 20 into the fmless accurately angularly cross-sectioned form shown in Fig. 4. and is nally led away to any suitable propelling and take-up means not shown.

The apparatus comprises aheavy combined 25 base and frame 30, at the left side of which is a bracket'carrying a guide sheave 3| over which the strand passes from the supply. Within the frame is mounted a pair of forming rolls generally indicated at 32 and 33 and driven by any 30 suitable power means not shown. These, for ease of manufacture are preferably compound as shown in Fig. '7, although they may well be solid. The lower roll 32 is preferably supported in im- :novably held journals in the frame 30, while the 35 upper roll 33 is preferably mounted to be movable up and down and to be pressed down against the lower roll 32 by a press screw 34 mounted in the frame. As such mountings are a familiar feature of many forms of rolling mills and as their struc- 40 ture is no part of the present invention, it is not thought necessary to disclose them here in detail. It is su-iicient to' state that by the screw 34 the roll 33 is unyieldingly held relatively to the roll 33 in the position shown in Fig. .7. 45

The roll 33 as shown consists of three coaxial disks 33|, A332 and 333 while the roll 32 is similarly composed of three coaxial disks 32|, 322 and 323. Disks 33|, 333 and 323 are simple, flat ended circular cylinders. Disk 332 and 322 each 50 com-mises two coaxial integral circular cylinders with flat ends. Disk 32| is formed on the end next to disk 322 with the coaxialconical frustum 324. Since the rolls 322 and 332 are solid, no

,n can be formed along the middle dihedral 55 between the members of a pair.

side and of the roll 332 coacting therewith on the opposite side of the strand, forming the fiat faces 232, 233, 222 and 223 (Fig. 3) onine strand.

The disk 32| extends radially beyond the disk 322 to overlap the disk 332, the disk 33| being of correspondingly less diameter than the disk 332, and the conical face of the frustum 324 forms the at slanting lateral face 22| of the tape or strand. 'Similarly the face 224 of the tape is formed against the flat inner face of the disk 323.

The original strand is selected so thatits crosssection as shown in Fig. 2 is greater than the predetermined cross-section of the desired finished product shown in Fig. 4. Hence in passing through the rolls, the. strand contains more than enough material to fill the space delimited by the disks 32|, 322, 323 and 332, and the excess material is extruded or squeezed out into one or more of the vertical crevices between the disks to form one or more of the fins 25, |25, 225 and 325 of Fig. 3. The component disks of the rolls 32 and 33 would ordinarily be so made as to leave a clearance between adjacent disks originally of the order of .0.0005 inch; but with wear in use and because of the elastic compressibility of the materials involved under the stresses present in use, the fins formed may generally be thought of as of the order of 0.001 to 0.005 inch thick where they are rooted on a face of the strand body.

From the forming rolls 32 and 33, the' tape 20 passes on over a'guide sheave 31 mounted on'a bracket 38 supported on the frame 30, to a trimming device generally indicated at 4U in Fig. 1, and thence over another guide sheave 39 to appropriate propelling and take-up means not shown.

The device 40 comprises a pair of coacting compound rolls 4| and 42. The roll 4| consists of three associated disks 4||, 4|2 and 4|3 held on a sleeve 43 between a head 44 integral with the sleeve and anut 45 threaded on the sleeve. The sleeve in turn is rotatable on a stub shaft 45 upstanding from and integral with the head. 41 of a` bolt 48. The head 44 of the sleeve 43 merely rests and turns freely on the head 41 of the bolt 48. Disks 4|| and 4|3 are alike in suiiiciently to admit the portion 232, 22|, 222v diameter and are separated by the disk 4| 2 just interface between 222 and 223 of the tape. Disk:

The rolls 322 and 42|, 422 and 4230i the roll 42 are mounted in the same fashion as the disks of the roll 4|.

All six of these disks are hardened and ground accurately with particular attention to the lower peripheral edges of the disks 4|3 and 423 and the upper peripheral edges of the disks 4|| and 42|, for as the strand is drawn through between the rolls, any ns present on the strand are sheared off by the corresponding disk reducing the strand to the final form shown in Fig. 4.

Since the shearings curl in all directions, they are likely to enter and clog the spaces between the disks, hence thin, flat, elastic sweeping members 49 are mounted to lie in the spaces on the exit side of the rolls.

It will be noted that the fin 25 is rooted substantially entirely on the face 233 of the dihedral angle 233, 224 of the strand and Asubstantially along the edge which forms the vertex of that particular dihedral angle; and that a similar condition exists with respect to each of the other ns if any; also that each i'ln is sheared away in the device 40 substantially in the plane `of that dihedral face upon which the fin roots.

It will be obvious that the invention is not confined to the particular form of tape herein disclosed but may be applied wherever a strand of accurately angular cross-section is to be formed, and the changes necessary to adapt the apparatus to produce another analogous form of strand are self-evident. It`wil1 also be clear .that a'strand of the customary circular crosssection may be converted into one of oval or other flattened form before subjecting it in to the rolls 32 and 33.

The embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is illustrative only and may be modified and departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims. l

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for forming a strand of angular cross-section comprising a pair of coactingv forming rolls, each of the forming rolls having portions of different diameters to form a predetermined shape, the space between said rolls being slightly smaller than` the cross-section of the material being worked upon, and the ends of the rolling surfaces having substantially l0 radially extending spaces for the reception of excess material to form ns extending transversely of the plane of the strand, and means comprising a pairof shearing discs rotatable in the plane of the strand for receiving the strand therebetween to remove said fins.

2. An apparatus for forming a strand of angular cross-section comprislnga pair ofl coacting forming rolls, each of the forming rolls having portions of different diameters to form a predetermined shape,lthe space between said rolls being slightly smaller than the crosssection of the material being worked upon, and the ends of the rolling surfaces having substantially radially extending spaces for the reception of excess material to form iins extending transversely of the plane of the strand, and means comprising a pair of shearing discs at each edge of the strand for receiving the strand therebetween to remove said uns.

` sIGURD THRoNsEN. 

